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George Jewson bought a business in Earith in 1836 to trade goods in the Huntingdonshire Fens of East Anglia.[2] His son John Wilson Jewson (b. 1817) had 13 children: the eldest, George, at the time working with a timber merchant in Norwich, suggested expansion there.

John Jewson bought a house in Colegate in Norwich in 1868, and he moved there where he developed a successful timber, coal and builders' merchant business. The family played a role in civic service in Norwich and Norfolk.

On 15 May 2009 Jewson Ltd applied under s.69(1)Companies Act 2006 for a change of name of Jewson's Drives Ltd which had been registered since 18 March 2009.

Jewson Ltd argued that they enjoyed goodwill under the name "Jewson" since 1836 and that they were the UK's leading timber and builders' merchant. Jewson Ltd alleged that Jewson's Drives Ltd had been offering flagging, paving, fencing and related services and that their own customers had been misled by the respondent.

However, as long as Jewson's Drives Ltd had actually been operating as a business and there was no evidence to show they only registered their name for the purpose of obtaining (valuable) consideration from Jewson Ltd or for the sake of obstructing their own registration of a name, then they could have a defence to the application.